The agricultural growth in the state
after mid-sixties has been sufficient to push the country
from food shortages to food surpluses. The Green revolution
technologies have led to the emergence of rice-wheat as a
major cropping system. The adoption of this rotation on a
wider scale has hit hard our basic resources viz. soil and
water. Intensification of agriculture in the state had led
to complex problems of multiple nutrient deficiencies and
pest problems. The productivity of rice is stagnating
whereas the wheat yields have declined from 47q/ha to
43q/ha. To sustain the productivity, the farmers have to
spend more. Apart from the productivity, the average
holdings in the state have been reduced to less than one
half after the advent of green revolution. Thus to maintain
the minimum living standards is an uphill task for the rural
population.

To revive the dwindling rural economy vigorous research and
extension efforts are needed. Extension these days is much
more different than the initial years of Green Revolution.
Today the extension workers in addition to production need
to discuss post harvest handling, value addition and
marketing of the raw as well as processed food. Thus the
extension worker needs to be well versed in management tools
in addition to the technical knowledge of the subject.

Keeping the changing requirements in view, the "Innovation
in Technology Dissemination (ITD)" component was launched
under National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) funded
by World Bank. This programme was implemented in the seven
states of the country as a pilot project. The states
concerned were Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand. In each state, four
districts were selected in a phased manner and the project
envisaged that there should be a complete decentralization
of the authority to the district level and participation of
the farmers, right from the planning stage. For each
selected district "Strategic Research and Extension Plan (SREP)" was prepared through participatory mode. The annual action
plans are focused on SREP with a sufficient scope of taking
up the changing needs of the farming community. As a part of
the ITD project, each state has been sanctioned one State
Agricultural Management & Extension Training Institute (SAMETI).
In case of Punjab, it is known as PAMETI. Keeping in view
the success of ITD component of NATP, the Government of
India has extended this programme in all the districts of
the country under the scheme "Support to State Extension
Services for Reforms in Agriculture Extension". At present,
this scheme is being implemented in all the twenty districts
of the State.